Good Fit: Gucciardo Chooses Hillsdale First, Tennis Second

Written by Doug Goodnough

Steve Gucciardo, ’89, thought the Hillsdale College tennis program was a good fit when he was deciding on a college during his senior year at Birmingham (Michigan) Brother Rice High School.

However, he liked the school even more, which is why he spurned a scholarship offer from NCAA Division I Eastern Michigan University to become a Charger. And he does not regret that decision one bit.

“I really wanted to put the school first and the sport second,” Gucciardo said of his decision-making process. “I think it was kind of unusual at the time. A lot of kids want to go to the best sports school they can. But I really loved Hillsdale’s campus. My attitude was that I wanted to go to a school where I would be really happy even if I wasn’t playing the sport.”

Gucciardo was an accomplished junior tennis player on a state championship team at Brother Rice. In fact, he followed his high school teammate, Rob Warrington, ’88, to Hillsdale under then-head coach Dale Steiss. However, when Gucciardo arrived on campus, he learned Steiss had left Hillsdale for another coaching opportunity.

Enter Dan “Big Daddy” Goldsmith as coach. Although Goldsmith was not a traditional tennis coach, Gucciardo said he appreciated his strategic mind and competitive spirit.

“On top of that, he taught you so much more about life,” Gucciardo said of Goldsmith. “I still quote him to this day. As much as I liked Dale, I wouldn’t have changed anything.”

During Gucciardo’s freshman season, the Chargers had one of the most remarkable turnarounds of any program. The previous year, Hillsdale barely scored any points at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. In 1985-86, Hillsdale scored more than 25 points to finish fourth at the event.

“He was the architect of that,” said Gucciardo of Goldsmith.

Playing second singles and first doubles, Gucciardo earned team MVP honors as a freshman and sophomore. The conference at the time was very competitive, with Ferris State often ranked first in the nation in NCAA Division II.

“It was a very, very deep league,” he said. “And our team was always very competitive. I knew a lot of guys on other teams from junior tournaments. There were players who were ranked in the Midwest and nationally in that league.”

He said the campus experience was outstanding. He earned his degree in finance and appreciated the independent and entrepreneurial spirit of the College at the time.

“And I took that into my personal life, as far as being entrepreneurial and business oriented,” said Gucciardo, who was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. “You are thinking and out there hustling and working hard. I got a lot of that from Hillsdale. I loved it.”

A real estate investor for more than 30 years, he buys, owns, and operates apartment buildings in the Detroit area.

“My theory has always been if you enjoy what you do, you have a chance to be great at it,” Gucciardo said. “That’s in sports or business or law or whatever your endeavor is.”

He and his wife of 31 years, Renee, have three grown children. They now have some extra time on their hands, and pickleball has replaced tennis as Gucciardo’s sport of choice.

“The tennis player in me said I would never do it, but I’ve done it a couple of years now,” he said of pickleball. “I enjoy it. It’s like a grown-up version of ping pong on a bigger court.”

Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s senior director of Alumni Marketing. He enjoys connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

Published in January 2026